Hi all, just found this forum & I hope someone can point me in the right direction?
Vauxhall Omega 2.0 16 V CD Auto 1995
I've had this car aprox a year, it's professionally serviced every six months & kept up together as best as possible, although I occasionally get niggling electrical (starting) problems & the Airbag light's been on all the time for a while (never been deployed).
ABS light came on for a day only. Mechanic say's it probably a sensor faulty & I'll need to have it plugged into equipment that will help pinpoint the problem. I can pay more at a Vauxhall garage or he can arrange this elsewhere cheaper. Then if its found to be a sensor, I've been quoted aprox £100.00 for the part & fitting on top.
I'm told it will fail MOT next time (only just been MOT'd last month) due to the light being on. They did not fail it on the Airbag light though this time. I'm told the ABS is additional to the normal braking system, which is all working fine.
Before I react & have it looked at & part with cash etc, if I test by braking hard and if the ABS kicks in and it's just a sensor malfunctioning, is my mechanic right that they will fail it next MOT if the light's on? How do they test the ABS different to the normal braking system on MOT? What are my options for getting this diagnosed elsewhere other than a Vauxhall garage?
This particular mechanic was great when I first met him, but the last couple of service visits have seen me starting to doubt if I'm getting a good service & value. He always seems to find something wrong and has twice changed parts without advising / asking me first.
I recently had two front fog lights removed to pass MOT (as one was broken & not worth the expense to replace at over £100.00) If my car did not have working ABS, but was ok on the normal braking system, would the same principal of removing that function apply? The cars not worth much, has a minor oil leak that's going to cost more than the cars worth to repair & I intend to run it until something else costs too much to replace & then scrap it.
Thanks for any pointers
|
Airbag light is not part of the MOT. More than likely if you've got electronic seatbelt pretensioners, the wiring under the seat is the first place I would look. Unfortunately you will need to have the airbag light reset by a garage though.
You *might* be able to read the ABS fault code yourself using the following instructions
www.topbuzz.co.uk/info/abs_codes/abs_codes.htm
Using the same site, there is some info on testing the ABS sensors as well.
www.topbuzz.co.uk/maintenance/testing_abs/testing_...m
|
|
|
If the ABS warning light is on then a fault has been detected and the ABS switched off - it will not work - period.
My understanding is that if ABS is fitted then it has to work - and ALL Omegas have ABS .......
HTH
|
Rather common, is an alternator fault, giving a high charge voltage.
Did you find the Airbag fault?
Quite often both the SRS control unit and ABS control unit have a "Input viltage too high" code when this problem ocurrs.
You can also have an EML with a similar code too. Just a thought, best read the codes before guessing.
|
|
|
|
OBD
ABS light came on for a day only.
If the light is not permanently on, then you can reasonably assume that the system is currently working and that you'll have no problem with the MOT test. If, however, the light is on [or non-functional] when presented, it will fail the test. There is a very good and unanswerable reason for this. An ABS braking system is not a standard system with some additional ABS grafted-on. It is designed and specified from the ground up as an ABS-dependant entity.
One of the most important differences will be greatly uprated components; far larger in capacity than would be wise without ABS. There will also be no rear load-limiting valves or G-valves that would be universally fitted to a non-ABS vehicle to prevent rear lock-up under heavy braking. Without functional ABS your braking system would be an accident looking for a place to happen. One slippery junction and those over-sized brakes will bite without warning.
Should the worst happen; the police accident investigator will routinely download the memories from the ABS computer and you will be charged with knowingly driving a vehicle with defective brakes. If someone has died, that will almost certainly mean doing time for manslaughter.
Hope that explains some of your questions.
|
|
Also,front fog lights are not part of the MOT and did not need to be removed(working or not).
|
>>I recently had two front fog lights removed to pass MOT (as one was broken & not worth the expense to replace at over £100.00) If my car did not have working ABS, but was ok on the normal braking system, would the same principal of removing that function apply? The cars not worth much, has a minor oil leak that's going to cost more than the cars worth to repair & I intend to run it until something else costs too much to replace & then scrap it.
I've seen replacement fog lights for 60 quid - either Autovaux or Dixons - sorry can't remember which. I should think they're pretty common on eBay as well. It's annoying that it's not easy to buy just the replacement glass :-(( . I too run old Omegas until they need ££££s spending on them, rather than scrap my last one it's sitting on my drive, with the parts slowly tranferring to my newer one....how long SWMBO will let me use the drive as a breaker's yard remains to be seen.;-)
|
One of the oddities of the MOT test is that only the function of the ABS light is tested, not the actual brakes themselves.... So, the light can work, but the ABS not when you need it to, and it will still pass the MOT!
--
RichardW
Is it illogical? It must be Citroen....
|
|
|
|
Also,front fog lights are not part of the MOT and did not need to be removed(working or not).
Unless the glass was broken. Then they come into the "sharp edges" rules.
|
Unless the glass was broken. Then they come into the "sharp edges" rules.
Yes, one had the glass broken.
Thanks for the replies, the link to Top Buzz was very helpful, just the sort of thing I was looking for & I'll have a go at working out the ABS codes this weekend.
Also thanks for the legal advice, although I'd never intentionally compromise my own or anyone elses safety by having faulty ABS left unattended.
My main concern was throwing good money at something that may not be neccessary (the electrical equipment diagnosis) on the advice of one person, who I had started to doubt. I'm going to see how he reacts when I suggest the Top Buzz sites suggestion of manually linking out pins to interogate the ABS's memory.
Thanks again
|
|
|
|
|
|
Certain cars still have rear load limiting valves fitted in the brake circuit even with ABS as a standard fitment.
|
|
|
|
